On November 1, 2018, the women of BatesCarey and insurance professionals throughout Chicago gathered at Swift & Sons for the first annual Tea Talk: Women Empowering Women to network, enjoy the company of colleagues and discuss emerging workplace trends in the context of insurance coverage.

Michael “Mickey” Passman examines an Illinois federal judge’s recent ruling in a coverage dispute case, Tracy Holdings LLC v. West Bend Insurance Co., in his October 2018 Insurance Law IICLE Flashpoints column. At issue was the value of insurers’ use of “catch all” reservation of rights statements in denial letters, particularly in avoiding application of “mend the hold” and waiver doctrines under Illinois law in ensuing litigation.

In this feature titled Outside the Courtsfrom the October 2018CLMMagazine,Adam H. Fleischer examines whether the solutions to America’s opioid crisis will come from the courts, the insurers or broader societal changes.